What is the best way to cook a burger?

This weekend is the unofficial kick off to Summer here in the United States and in the state of Indiana, it is the single most important weekend of the year….. Race Weekend. For most people it is a welcomed three day weekend, a chance to relax with family and friends. While it is a great weekend, it is also a weekend to remember our fallen soldiers, to honor their memory, reflect on their sacrifice, and to give thanks to their families. If you’ve ever been to the Indy 500, you’ve seen the love given to our troops. It is awesome. As you are getting ready for this major Grilling and Chilling weekend, you may be thinking about Burgers and sausages….Well we’ve got you covered there!

If you need any last minute meat treats or party supplies, check out our shop and order away. You can pickup Thursday 4:30-6:30 or we can send it to the Farmers Markets on Saturday for pickup. We also have UPS shipping options but the clock is ticking on that! Otherwise, come see us at the Farmers Market this Saturday! We will be at Fishers, Zionsville, Carmel, Broad Ripple, and Garfield Park! We will be stocked up on Sausages, especially, Bratwursts! Cheddar Brats, Jalapeno Cheddar brats, Beer Brats. You name it! We will also have our bacon burgers. Yes…. bacon burgers. We use antibiotic and hormone free, grass-fed, grain-finished Indiana Beef and we grind it with our traditional smoked bacon. We also have a garlic bacon burger! So the question here is: What is the best way to cook a burger?

The answer to this question is subjective no matter what anyone says. There are so many different ways to cook a burger.

Oven: Place oven safe pan in oven and preheat oven to 400F. Put a couple tablespoons of oil or a big pad of butter in the pan. Once melted, drop the patties in the pan and close the door. Flip after 4 mins or browned and finish cooking to desired finish temp.

Stove top: Place cast iron pan over medium heat with a little oil or butter and sear the patty until nicely crisped and flip. Then cook till desired temp.

Immersion Circulator: Sous Vide Burgers are awesome. Place patties in vacuum sealed bag or sealed bag and set your circulator to the desired temp. Cook patties for 3 hours and then rest 15 minutes before searing both sides at high heat on either stove top or grill. You could also just get a torch out and finish it with a torch (fancy).

Grill: Charcoal or gas, get your grill nice and hot, spray the grate down with non-stick and get your burgers. Chuck some wood chips in to get a little smoke on them. Flip once. Cook until desired temp is reached.

So we talk a lot about desired temperature of your burger. The temp is how “done” the burger is. We have a scale below that gives a little explanation to “doneness” / cook temp. Around here we are Medium-Rare / Medium. When your burger hits target temp, get it off the heat and let it rest. If you are topping with cheese, you can opt to put it on after the flip so that it is nice and melty. You can also top the burger with cheese and melt under a broiler.

Your call.

In my opinion, the best burger is the classic burger done well. Medium rare burger topped with cheese, spicy sweet pickles, onion, lettuce, tomato, mayo, spicy mustard, on a brioche bun. Our burgers have bacon blended in, but i’ll add a few more strips. However you do it, we hope you do it well and have a wonderful weekend!

Meat “Doneness” Scale
Rare: 125F-130F. Med Rare: 130F-135F. Medium: 140F-145F. Medium-Well 155F-160F. Well Done: 160F-165F.